


Coming Home

by madaliz



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, OT7, Think of this as my Dream Knight Season 2 pitch LOL
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-01-08 05:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12247911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madaliz/pseuds/madaliz
Summary: "If you were to lose every memory of Got7 except one, what would it be?"The boys take different paths in their lives and Got7 never happens, some of them are still in show business, some of them are in college, but all them of them are having dreams of six other men they've never met, but want to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this after watching the "Fly in Seoul" FINAL dvd with a friend back in July. There was an [interview](http://aminoapps.com/page/got7igot7/6658874/interview-if-got7-were-to-lose-every-memory-except-1) where they were asked what one memory of Got7 they would keep and my friend and I sort of ran with it and I came up with this plot. I've been writing it for months on and off between my heavy load of school work and I'm posting it now to see if I should continue it haha. Honestly, I can't believe I wrote this lmao (and that chapter two is... halfway done).
> 
> The relationships I put in the tags are the one that will be most focused on, it's mostly for plot reasons, but in the case of one relationship, it's just my bias lol. JB and Jinyoung will be getting the most "screen time" because they're the ones actively looking for everyone else from early on in the story. 
> 
> The title is from JJP's recent album Verse2, Coming Home was definitely my favorite track. It's funny because I started writing this before that came out and it turned out to be the perfect sound track for this haha (maybe 7 for 7 will too).
> 
> I'll be using Korean Honorifics in this fic (if I get any of them wrong please tell me), I feel that honorifics are a very important part of a culture (I come from one with honorifics) so I think a lot is lost if I don't put it in. 
> 
> This chapter is unedited, so, sorry in advance hahaha.

When Jaebum jolts awake he can still see the tail end of his dream. He clings to it, forcibly replaying the scene over and over and over again in his mind until he's sure he won't forget it once he's fully awake. Paper. He needs paper. He needs to write everything down before he forgets. He scrambles for his composition notebook on his bedside table, flips to the last page and starts jotting down what he remembers.

They were in a room in the JYP building, that he was sure of. What they were doing, he's struggling to remember. Jinyoung was there along with five other boys he both recognized and didn't. He knows he's never met them, but there was something about them that felt comfortable, familiar. He doesn't remember everyone's names, and it frustrates him. He remembers shouting at a clearly foreign boy named Jackson and encouraging another boy named Youngjae. He remembers Jinyoung helping him pacify the chaos that their– he remembers now – **_dance practices_** often dissolved into. He doesn't remember Jinyoung being quite so mature at that age. The Jinyoung he remembers from those years purposefully acted defiant and contrary although still frustratingly within the limits of traditional propriety that Jaebum could never quite scold him. Dream Jinyoung purposefully acted like a mother scolding her children. It felt like a puzzle to watch.

When he runs out of things to write, he grabs his phone and records himself humming the song they were practising in his head. _Could be useful_ , he thinks, _for inspiration._

Then he makes a call.

Jinyoung is reading his script and getting his make-up retouched when he hears his phone ringing. He stares at his bag as it vibrates on the floor, wondering who chose to call him at four am instead of catching up on sleep (because in this business, it was always catching up on sleep).

“I'm sorry noona,” he tells his make up artist “may I check if it's important?” he gestures towards his still vibrating bag.

“Oh sure.” she moves her brush away from his face “I need to go get a new sponge anyway.”

He smiles at her and says thank you, then bends down to get his bag. He zips it open to fish his ringing phone out and is surprised to find that someone who **_never_** calls him, is now calling him.

“Jaebum-hyung, what happened?” he says in a rush when he answers, expecting the worst.

“Do the names Jackson and Youngjae mean anything to you?” Jaebum asks without missing a beat.

 _They do,_ Jinyoung thinks, though not for any reason that's worth saying out loud. He's only ever heard those names in dreams, dreams of seven boys anxiously sitting in vigil in front of a computer. They're in their pajamas, and the air in the room is nervous but excited. The one named Jackson is more restless than any of them, the thin boy next to him is calmly trying to get him to sit still, though he too seems tense. A small boy with bright streaks of pink on his bangs and an accent Jinyoung isn't familiar with is sitting right in front of the computer, obsessively refreshing what appears to be a youtube page. Jinyoung can never remember what was written on it. Beside pink streak boy is a tall boy who looks more familiar than the others for reasons Jinyoung can't place, he has his arm on the smaller boy's shoulders. Jinyoung is standing behind them, and Jaebum beside him, patting someone named Youngjae on the back. He doesn't see them, but he hears them. Jeabum's voice is as clear in his dreams as it is in his waking hours. Which is strange considering everyone else's voice is slightly muffled (though not incomprehensible). They all seem like close friends, and each time he dreams he's struck with an intense feeling of nostalgia. He misses these people. He wants to see them. He has to shake himself out of the fantasy when he wakes up.

He doesn't tell Jaebum any of this, instead he asks “What's wrong hyung?”

“Nevermind.” Jaebum says quickly “Sorry, are you at a shoot?”

Jinyoung stares at his own puzzled face in the mirror “It's fine, I'm in make up right now. Are you sure everything's fine hyung? Shouldn't you be sleeping?”

“Everything's fine.” his voice is decisive, not open to questions “Sorry for bothering you. Good luck with your shoot, I'll watch the drama when it comes out.”

“No you won't.” Jinyoung huffs, Jaebum is terrible about watching things “But thank you.”

Jaebum chuckles, it's weak but genuine, “Ok,” he says “bye, see you.”

“See you hyung.” Jinyoung says before hanging up. His make up artist is back. He drops his phone into his bag, and sits up straight.

Hours later when the sun is high up in the noon sky, Yugyeom sees Park Jinyoung (the actor, not the producer) as he's walking out of the JYP building with his friends and Jinyoung is walking in. He desperately wants to say hi, but doesn't know how _“Hi, I have dreams of performing concerts with you, which is ridiculous because why would you sacrifice a lucrative acting career to form a new idol group, amirite??”_ would come across (probably not too well).

He lingers by the entrance, and one of his friends asks “What's wrong?” but Yugyeom doesn't answer him. Instead he takes a step forward, looking straight at Jinyoung who's waiting for an elevator. He's never thought of Jinyoung, before the dreams. Ok, that's not true, he has, he's watched and loved every single drama the man has been in (and maybe cried a few times too especially in his movies, but that's not the point).

Actor Park looks kind but distant. He speaks to everyone politely and has a nice smile but keeps everyone at arm’s length. He's not exactly **_unknowable_** , he has a number of close friends, Yugyeom knows. But he's smart and famous and a little bit intimidating to the younger trainees and Yugyeom's just never had the chance to talk to him. But dream Jinyoung is different, he's warmer, eyes wrinkling as he laughs and teases Yugyeom in front of a stadium of people. He looks at him and feels like he's looking at an older brother. He's fond of a guy he's never met. And he remembers a close relationship with six boys he's never met. He knows they're dreams but sometimes they feel too intense to be dreams. Almost like they're memories. But he knows they can't be.

His friend starts tugging on his arm the moment Jinyoung gets into an elevator. The chance to introduce himself has passed, so he just lets himself get swept away by a crowd of his fellow trainees, and bites his lip.

In a café down the road, Choi Youngjae is writing his term paper and doesn't even think about the dream he had where he gets picked to be part of an idol group. He's too busy trying to get through the semester to think about what would have happened if he had tried to be a singer instead of applying for college.

It's a nice thought, becoming a singer. The happiness he felt in his dreams was unlike anything he'd ever experienced in his life but that's probably because it happened in a dream. _Nice dreams won't get me good jobs like university will_ , he thinks, _besides I'm too old to try out to be an idol._

So he stomps the thought down, tucks it deep in his mind. He has no time for dreams when reality is so all consuming. He worked hard to get into this school. His future is on the line. There is no time for dreams. And he doesn't think too deeply about why JJ Project was in it, when he's never really been a big fan.

The sun is hotter in Bangkok where Bambam's work day is just about to begin. He doesn't have vivid dreams like memories, but for a long time he's had a vague feeling of something being missing from his life. _But I'm doing what makes me happy,_ he thinks as he helps his boss open up their dance studio _, what's left?_

There's a lot of other things he could be doing with his life, he knows. He's always loved to dance but he's aware it probably won't be enough someday. Maybe he should have gone to South Korea like Lisa did. He can't deny that he's a little bit jealous of her fame.

“Well if you want to try out,” Lisa had said “YG doesn't care about age and looks as much as the other companies do and I know you're an amazing dancer and rapper.”

“Did you just backhandedly insult me?” he teases, a blatant deflection. Lisa lets herself get distracted and that was the end of that.

He thinks about it a lot lately, and the empty hole in his heart gets bigger every day. Maybe Lisa's got the right idea. At the very least, a change of scenery couldn't hurt.

Across continents Jackson's in full gear with the rest of the Stanford fencing team, resolutely not thinking about the nightmare he had last night and the tears and cold sweat that came with it. But the fact that he's distracted is obvious, he's making mistakes he would normally never make. His teammates pat him on the back consolingly. His coach shouts at him for his flubs and then, more gently, tells him to go home and get some rest.

Rest is the exact opposite of what he wants. When he closes his eyes he's fighting with his parents about signing some contract or reading about how much people hate him on the internet or having an intense fight with someone he's never met in a language he doesn't even understand. When he closes his eyes people are asking him why he's quit fencing and he's watching his friends go to the Olympics without him. When he closes his eyes he's crying because he's missing his family and his mom is sick and he can't be there for her. When he closes his eyes he feels more inadequate than he does when they're open.

But when he closes his eyes, he also sees Mark. He doesn't know Mark, not really, he's never met him. But in his dreams he's the arm around his shoulder. The only voice he can understand. Mark speaks to him in soft comforting Mandarin and listens to him rant before they sleep. It's the one thing Jackson likes about his dreams, Mark almost makes the nightmares worth it.

Five hours away in UCLA, Mark also dreams of Jackson but it is far more pleasant. He dreams of Jackson in New York, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo, Seoul, and right here in LA, standing beside him on stage, taking off his shirt and then hiding behind Mark because he enjoys being contrary. They're not alone, there are seven of them on stage. He's pretty sure they're in a boy band. It would explain the synchronized dancing for one thing.

His dreams don't explain much, it’s basically a trip around the world without much context. No, not a trip, a tour. A world tour for a band he's never heard of, or been a part of, but its full of people so achingly familiar in ways he can't explain. He's only ever heard Jackson's name in his dreams, but he feels as if everyone else's name is on the tip of his tongue. When he's in dreamland, it feels so important that he remember, it feels important that he find out who the heck these people are.

But when he's awake? Well, there's school to think of, and his friends, and his family, and wasting his days away on his PS4. There's too much life to live to think of dreams, so he doesn't. And when wakes up from a nap all he thinks is, “Why they hell is it always in Korean?”

 

-o-o-o-o-o-

Jaebum can't stop thinking about it. He tries, **_really_** tries to get on with his life and never think about that dream again but it nags at the back of his mind and grows like a fungus until he's unable to ignore how much it's consuming him. _It was only a dream_ , he reminds himself, _it isn't real._ He has more pressing **_real_** things to think about, he shouldn't waste his time thinking about who the people in his dream were. For instance, there's the very real fact that he and Jinyoung are secretly recording a come back.

He should focus on fine tuning this track and composing more songs instead of thinking about how the way Jinyoung is acting right now is more like the Jinyoung in his dream than the Jinyoung in his memories. He should stop thinking about how Jinyoung would smile in his dream in a way he's rarely seen in person. He should stop thinking about asking Jinyoung ridiculous dream related questions again because once was embarrassing enough.

He's succeeding (he thinks) in pretending to be not consumed by thoughts of his dream when Jinyoung asks, “You asked me if I knew someone named Jackson and Youngjae the other day, why?”

They’re alone in the room, up late in a JYP studio because Jinyoung's schedule doesn't allow secret recording sessions to happen at any other time of the day. They've both got cups of coffee with them and Jaebum takes a sip from his while he thinks of the best way to answer Jinyoung's question.

Finally, he settles on just the truth “I had a dream about some guys like that, that's all. You were there too, it seemed so real that I called you before I really thought about it,” he clears his throat “it's nothing.”

“Hmmm.” Jinyoung taps his fingers on his knee, “Was there a short boy with pink streaks in his hair in it too?”

It takes a while before Jaebum gets over his shock, but Jinyoung seems to take his wide eyes and gaping mouth as a yes.

“If, including us, there are seven boys in your dream, then we might be having the same dream or at the very least, dreaming about the same people.”

Jinyoung is talking as if it's nothing, as if it's every day that two people have dreams about the exact same people that they both have never met. He's pulling out his phone from his pocket, and is tapping at it while Jaebum is glued to his chair, still unable to come up with a verbal answer.

Jinyoung hands him his phone. He's pulled up a picture of one of the Korean boys from his dream. It's unmistakeably him, if a little older. The one who seemed stuck to the hip to the foreign pink haired boy. Jaebum takes his phone and puts it closer to his face, “How did you...?”

“He seemed more familiar than the others,” Jinyoung takes a sip of his coffee “I wondered if the guys in our dreams might be trainees, since we were apparently going to debut with them. His name's Kim Yugyeom. He was the only one who came up.”

Jaebum stares intently at the familiar face on the screen “So the others aren't...?”

With a shake of his head Jinyoung says: “No.”

“Are you–”

“I'm sure.”

Jaebum reclines back into his seat, letting it sink in. Jinyoung plucks his phone out of Jaebum's hand and places it back in his pocket. He has a neutral expression on his face, but Jaebum can tell he's patiently waiting for him to say something.

What was there to say though? What was Jinyoung expecting from him? Maybe this proves that the guys in their dreams are real people, and not just beings both of their subconsciousness decided to create. Maybe Yugyeom only happened to be real, and everyone else isn't. Somehow he knows that's not true though, somehow he knows that every single person in his dream is real and they're out there somewhere in the world. Maybe they're even having the same dreams as him and Jinyoung.

“Have you talked to him?” Jaebum asks, mostly to see what Jinyoung thinks of all this.

“No.” Jinyoung raises an eyebrow “It's one thing to bring up strange dreams with you, and another thing to bring it up with a complete stranger.”

 _But he isn't a stranger_ , Jaebum wants to say, but doesn't. “It's a bit more than just strange when we're having the same dream about the same people.”

“Alright,” Jinyoung sighs “it's true, it **_is_** quite strange. I've thought it over and it's too much of a coincidence to actually be a coincidence. But they're still only dreams hyung, why should we do anything about them?”

Jaebum chuckles, shaking his head “I'm not the one who went through the list of trainees Jinyoungie.”

“I was curious,” Jinyoung huffs defensively “but now my curiosity is sated.”

“Is it really?” Jaebum grins at him “Why are you bringing it up then?”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes and turns his chair to face away from him “I just thought you might be interested, that's all.”

Jaebum examines Jinyoung's profile for one more moment, noting the upward tilt of his chin and the slight shifting of his jaw. He's training his gaze forward, clearly determined to change the subject. Before Jinyoung can become uncomfortable with the staring, Jaebum decides to give him what he wants. Sort of.

“I'm going to hum something, tell me what you think of it.”

Jinyoung has known Im Jaebum long enough to be well acquainted with his stubbornness and has been, for better or worse, on the receiving end of all his moods and idiosyncrasies for the past seven years. (He's sure his hyung would say much the same of him.) He should have of course, known better than to expect that Jaebum would let the dream business go just because Jinyoung was no longer willing to talk about it (because when has he ever let anything go just because Jinyoung wasn't willing to talk about it).

He's humming that song, from his dream. The one he somehow knew they were waiting for on youtube. It's unsurprising that Jaebum knows it, and yet, at the same time Jinyoung is floored that he does. It makes the dreams feel even more real than they already did.

“Why are you doing this?” Jinyoung groans into his palms.

Jaebum runs his hand through his hair “I can't help but feel like we need to find them.”

“Hyung, when would we even have the time? And where would we even begin? Three of those boys were foreigners.”

“We could start local, we could look for Youngjae first, or at least introduce ourselves to Yugyeom.” he smiles at Jinyoung sheepishly “Then maybe we could go on that backpacking trip we always talk about but are too busy to go on?”

Jinyoung looks him right in the eye, assessing. Jaebum looks completely serious. He also looks like he knows how Jinyoung feels about all this.

“Why hyung? Give me a reason to go through all this trouble.”

Jaebum visibly hesitates, twiddles his fingers “I just... I feel like I need to find them.”

Shaking his head Jinyoung says “Let's focus on our job for now”, ending the conversation for real this time.

 

 

-o-o-o-o-o-

 

 

 

 

Jackson loves parties. Usually. As with most things, how fun a party is largely depends on who he's with. This is the swim team's party so he knows very few people aside from his friend Dominic who roped him into coming anyway. _A nice distraction from the nightmares_ , he'd thought at the time, _maybe if I get wasted I won't dream_. 

He doesn't know why he hasn't thought about it before, he loves to drink. Getting drunk not so much, but it's better than his alternative right now.

Dominic's nowhere to be seen, he said something about picking up a bunch of his high school friends who got lost on the way to the party. Apparently, they drove from Los Angeles just to see him. Cute. Unlikely that his own high school friends could ever take a flight to America just to attend a party, but that's just life.

He's trying his best to listen to one of Dominic's teammates talk about who knows what when finally, blessedly, Dominic taps his shoulder and says he's going to introduce him to his friends. He doesn't get farther than “So this is–” before someone says Jackson's name.

And immediately, Jackson stiffens, because he knows that voice. Knows it too well for something he's never heard in real life. Dominic must see the terror in his face because he doesn't continue the introduction.

Jackson swallows. Slowly, he peers behind Dominic. There, looking as shocked as Jackson feels, is Mark. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who commented!! I was very motivated to finish this up because of that. There's going to be a lot of OCs that I've given names to just to make things easier for myself as I write this. Also, there's going to be more of Lisa from BLACKPINK in this lol.

Mark can barely hear the music over the drum-like beating of his heart. Heat is climbing up his neck, the rush feels a bit like a dip in a roller coaster ride but worse somehow, more disorienting. Jackson obviously recognizes him too, the look on his face after Mark called his name confirmed as much. They know each other, but they both know it shouldn’t be possible.

Mark almost laughs when he thinks about how this is technically a Disney movie come to life. He’s playacted this scene with his nieces enough. _We’re not strangers,_ he thinks in a faux princely voice, _we’ve met before, once upon a dream…_

Jackson doesn’t seem to think this is a fairy tale so much as a nightmare. He looks terrified—no, torn. He’s torn between terrified and something else but the terror is winning. He seems to have frozen in place, staring at Mark with his eyes wide and his mouth parted. Mark wants to say that he isn’t a ghost but he’s not sure how that would come across to everyone else who can hear him.

He can see, at a glance, the differences between dream Jackson and this Jackson, how this Jackson is built heavier, more muscles in his thighs and arms; how this Jackson’s hair is unkempt, a bit of a shaggy mess framing the face he sees whenever he closes his eyes; how his skin doesn’t look as perfect as it did in dreams, the scattered bumps on his face and the stubble on his chin. Dream Jackson was a cleaned up version of this Jackson, a person made to look like he belonged to everyone though he really belonged to no one. And yet somehow this Jackson feels less approachable (probably because he looks ready to bolt and run as far away from here as humanly possible). Mark wonders what Jackson thinks of how **_he_** looks. Mark’s pretty sure he’s looking shabby compared to dream Mark.

It’s their common friend Dominic who breaks the silence between them, “Do you two know each other?” he asks.

Jackson doesn’t answer, he’s still gaping at Mark. So Mark says “Sort of” then asks, in Mandarin “Do you have the same dreams?”

“Mark.” Jackson breaths out, with more than a little bit of awe in his voice.

“Yup.” Mark lets the letter p pop as he says it.

“Ooookayyyy.” Dominic says looking between them, he raises his eyebrows as if to say _“moving on”._  

He starts introducing Jackson to the rest of their friends. Jackson obliges, shaking everyone else’s hands, smiling shakily as he does it. When he turns back to Mark again he visibly gulps.

“How do you know each other?” one of his friends, Tristan, whispers to him.

“It’s complicated.” Mark whispers back, not taking his eyes off Jackson.

The awkward atmosphere seems to scare everyone off, and they peter off into the crowd one by one until he and Jackson are the only ones left, still looking at each other like they can’t quite believe this is happening. Mark knows it looks weird, but it’s the most unbelievable thing that’s ever happened to him so he can’t help it.

“So do you?” Mark asks again.

“Huh?”

“Uhm, do you have the dreams I mean.”

Jackson puts the heels of his palms over his eyes “Don’t you mean nightmares?” he says, with a hint of bitterness. “God, I can’t believe you’re real.”

“Nightmares?” Marks walks closer to him “Well, I don’t think we’re having the same dreams then.”

Jackson pulls down his hands and looks up at him “But you know me.”

Mark nods “I do.”

“How is this even **_possible_**.”

“I dunno,” Marks looks around “But we should probably talk somewhere more private.”

“Huh?” Jackson furrows his eyebrows.

Mark smiles at him, he hopes it doesn’t look patronizing “We’re kind of in the middle of a party?”

“Oh right.” Jackson nods, running a hand through his hair “Sure. Private. I know where Dominic’s room is, let’s check if that’s free.”

They silently make their way through the party. Mark fixes his gaze on the back of Jackson’s head. He knows it might be bordering on creepy at this point but… He still can’t quite believe this is happening. He’s not so much freaking out as he is having an out of body experience.

Dominic’s room is empty when they get there which is a miracle considering how many people end up making out or having sex in these rooms during these kinds of parties. Mark knows he and Jackson look suspect right now but he doesn’t really care what people he doesn’t know say about him.

Jackson takes a seat at Dominic’s desk and awkwardly gestures with his hands for Mark to takes his seat somewhere. Mark plops down on one of the neater portions of Dominic’s bed.

“Do you know everyone else?” Jackson asks “I mean, the other boys from the dreams, do you know them?”

Jackson’s jumping between English and Mandarin. Mark isn’t having a hard time following him but it makes it clear that he’s flustered.

“No, I haven’t met them.” Mark says “You’re the first one.”

“So they’re real?” Jackson grabs his shoulders, his grip is painfully tight “Everyone’s real?”

“Hey that hurts.” Mark tries to pry away Jackson’s hands, but Jackson apologizes and pulls away before he can. Jackson continues to look at him expectantly though, clearly waiting for an answer. Mark sighs. “I don’t know any of them but if ** _you’re_** real, I get the feeling they are too.”

Jackson looks like he has mixed feelings about that. Mark watches as his chest heaves after taking a deep breath, as he runs his hand through his hair, as his eyes flit from him to literally anywhere else, as he clearly continues to reel from this fateful encounter.

 _Fateful_. That’s a good word for it Mark thinks. It’s not every day you meet someone you’ve been having vivid dreams about. It’s not every day that someone also has vivid dreams about you. Mark never really thought about fate or if he believed in it but it’s hard not to while he’s face to face with Jackson.

Jackson’s clearly having a harder time digesting things though. He puts a hand on his knee, gently, for support. Jackson looks at it but doesn’t shake him off. He’s looking at Mark’s hand quizzically, and – to Mark’s surprise – a touch fondly.

“I—” Jackson looks up and into his eyes “—I remember this.”

Suddenly Mark remembers too. Several moments of putting his hand on Jackson’s knee – sometimes it’s to comfort him, most of the time, Mark just does it while he’s talking. It’s a habit of his, Mark tends to be touchy with his friends. Not everyone’s into it. But he remembers, somehow, that Jackson likes it; remembers Jackson petting his hand even.

And then he realizes that these are memories, not dreams. Because he’s never dreamt of these moments flooding his mind right now. He’s actually remembering things that never happened, even in dreams. He doesn’t know what it means.

Jackson must sense his confusion because he asks “What’s wrong?”

“I just—” Mark can’t look away from his hand on Jackson’s knee “—I think I just remembered this.”

“You mean you had dreams of this too?”

“No I— I never dreamed this, it’s more like I’m actually remembering it, like an actual memory.”

Jackson stares at him impassively for a moment, slowly opening his mouth as he seemed to formulate a response. “But we haven’t met before” he says, and it’s a statement, not a question.

“We haven’t,” Mark agrees “but it almost feels like we have.”

Saying _‘_ almost’ is a bit of a lie. Frankly, if Jackson had felt like a stranger in any sense, Mark wouldn’t be talking as much as he is. But he **_doesn’t_** feel like a stranger, he feels like he knows him on a deeply personal level, like they’ve shared something, large portions of their lives even. So his mouth is running away from him a bit.

“So what do we do now?” Jackson asks. And it’s a good question, their first semester's almost over so they’re both going to have free time on their hands, but there’s tons of other ways to spend it that’s better for their future other than _“drop everything and look for the people in your dreams”_. Mark hasn’t even considered that option until just now, but with the physical embodiment of his weird dreams of another life right in front of him he almost feels compelled to jump on the first plane to Seoul.

He doesn’t say any of that though, instead he says “Let’s keep in touch. Figure it out later. Start as friends?”

Jackson looks amused now “Start out as friends? And graduate to what?”

“Best friends,” Mark grins “or something. Where ever this takes us.”

Jackson’s whole face lights up as he chuckles. Mark **_remembers_** this, or a version of it at least. He finds himself giggling right along with him.

“Alright,” Jackson says, still smiling “give me your number.”

 

-o-o-o-

 

Yugyeom can feel someone watching him. There’s a lot of other trainees in this room, and he’s not sure which of them it would be. It bothers him, makes him itch. But he can’t turn around. He needs to focus. He’s nineteen and he hasn’t debuted yet, this needs to be his year. He needs to be the best dancer this company’s ever seen. He doesn’t want to brag but he thinks he already kind of is, everyone knows it, says it. Even JYP PD-nim himself said he’s more than ready to debut. They just haven’t found who he’ll debut with.

Yugyeom gets it, it’s not just about talent, or looks. Chemistry in a group is important.

Someone is **_still_** watching him, but he has to finish dancing to this song. _Ignore it_ , he thinks, _your instructors are judging you_.

He clears his mind, and focuses on the dance. All he can hear is the music and the soft labored breaths of the trainees dancing beside him. When the song’s over he takes a deep breath, bracing for any criticism. But none comes, instead the producers announce they’ve got visitors with them in the room.

Yugyeom turns back along with everyone else and sees Producer Defsoul, Im Jaebom, reclining on a wall on the far end of the room, he’s wearing a tracksuit, a black bucket hat and a face mask, but Yugyeom’s seen him wear the same kind of outfit enough times to recognize him. He gives all of them a little wave. Beside him, also reclining casually on the wall, is Park Jinyoung, the actor. He’s in full make-up like he’s just walked off set, hair parted to one side, bangs curled. He’s dressed in a neatly pressed white button-down shirt and slacks. He’s smiling amiably and tilting his head down as if to say hello.

And then they both look straight at Yugyeom.

The hair behind his neck prickles at the realization. There’s no doubt in his mind that they’re looking straight at him.

“We’re sorry to interrupt your practice.” Jinyoung says to their instructors.

“Not at all,” one of them, Jae eun, says “I think you two motivated some of them to dance better.”

“We were just about to take a break anyway” adds another instructor, Sungmin.

“In that case, can we talk to one of your students then?” Jinyoung asks.

Sungmin gestures for them to go ahead.

“Kim Yugyeom-ssi,” Jinyoung’s looking straight at him, Yugyeom stares right back “would you like to have coffee with us?”

He replies before he has the chance to think about it. “Yes”, he says, breathlessly.

The other trainees are staring at him in wonder, but again, Yugyeom tries to ignore them. He hurriedly picks up his things and walks over to where JJ Project are standing with what seems like practiced leisure.

“You seem… eager.” Jinyoung says to him, with a hint of amusement.

“Should I not be?” he asks “I mean—” _did that sound rude?_ “—I think I know what this is about?”

Jinyoung raises an eyebrow at him.

“Or not.” He bites his lip. Realizing he hasn’t introduced himself properly, he holds out his hand and bows his head. “Although you already know this, I’m Kim Yugyeom.”

“Park Jinyoung,” he says, while taking his hand, giving him a firm hand shake.

Yugyeom turns then to Producer Def, who almost shyly takes his hand and mutters “Im Jaebum”.

“You can just call both of us hyung,” says Jinyoung “being called PD-nim makes Jaebum-hyung uncomfortable.”

“And being called Actor Park makes Jinyoung uncomfortable.” Jaebum teases back.

Yugyeom just nods, not quite sure what to say.

“Shall we go then?” Jinyoung asks him. Yugyeom only nods again and trails behind them as they leave the room and then the building.

Unsurprisingly they forego the Dunkin’ Donuts across the street in favor of a more non-descript café Yugyeom knows university students frequent. Jaebum says something about the coffee being good as the two of them line up to order, Jinyoung is already sitting at their table.

Jaebum orders two drinks at the counter without hesitation. A product of years of spending long nights with the same person, no doubt. Yugyeom is a bit in awe of it, it tickles his brain like a word just on the tip of one’s tongue would.

Yugyeom sits across Jinyoung, while Jaebum sits beside him. He faces both of them now, exchanging awkward smiles with them.

“Let’s wait for our drinks so we don’t get interrupted.” Jinyoung says distractedly. He’s tapping his fingers on the table, Yugyeom can tell from his expression that the wheels in his head are turning, and turning fast.

Jaebum is similarly deep in thought, but he’s staring right at Yugyeom, studying him. Yugyeom’s not sure he even realizes he’s doing it. He’s not sure he’s even really **_seeing_** him either, because if he was, wouldn’t he have already clued in on Yugyeom’s discomfort? Maybe Yugyeom is hiding it better than he thought.

Finally, their drinks are ready. Jinyoung reclines into the couch, studying him now too.

“Jaebum-hyung?” he says, throwing a look to the man beside him. Jaebum in turn, looks exasperated, it’s a look that is suddenly incredibly familiar to Yugyeom, like it’s something he’s seen countless times before.

“We wanted to talk to you about something,” Jaebum starts by stating the obvious “feel free to tell us to leave if it at all seems too weird.” He takes a deep breath “Have you been having dreams about us?”

“Oh,” Yugyeom had been lying when he said he knew what this was about, in truth he had never thought it could be about **_this_** “I—I have actually.”

Jaebum breathes a sigh of relief “See?” he says to Jinyoung. It sounds as if he’s winning an argument.

Jinyoung rolls his eyes “I can admit that I was wrong.”

“I was telling him that you’ve definitely been having the same dreams.” Jaebum explains “He wouldn’t stop playing devil’s advocate.”

“I was being realistic,” says Jinyoung “now that we have proof, I’m also being realistic, and admitting that I was wrong.”

“When did you become so thick-skinned?”

“Haven’t you always said that I’m thick-skinned? Why is this a surprise?”

“Uhm,” Yugyeom thinks if he doesn’t interrupt now this will go on longer than he can reasonably be on break “Do you both have the dreams too?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Jinyoung takes a sip of his coffee “We probably don’t have exactly the same dreams, though they are about the same people.”

“In mine, we’re training for our debut,” Jaebum adds “in Jinyoung’s, we’re waiting for our first music video to go online.”

“In mine, we’re performing in concerts. I can never remember the songs when I wake up, but I do remember seeing you both there, and the others, some other vague little things too.”

“Was a boy with pink streaks in his hair there?” Jinyoung asks

“Not that I remember, no.”

A pause “But there were seven of us?”

“Yes.”

“How old were we in this?”

Yugyeom’s stops to think for a moment, looks carefully at Jinyoung’s face before answering “Around the age we are now.”

Jaebum and Jinyoung lean back and look at each other in surprise. Yugyeom waits for a tense moment as the two have what seems to be a silent conversation on what he just said.

“We were younger in our dreams,” Jaebum says “at least three years younger, judging by Jinyoungie’s haircut.”

“And Jaebum-hyung’s multi-colored haird.”

“ ** _Multi-colored?_** ”

Yugyeom is about to interrupt what to ask what the age difference in their dreams could mean but is stalled by the barista shouting a name that makes him turn back.

“Youngjae! Order for Choi Youngjae!”

A frazzled looking young man wearing an ID with a university lanyard comes to get his drink and cookies. Yugyeom recognizes his face immediately. It’s one of the boys from his dreams. He turns to say this to Jinyoung and Jaebum, but they’ve both already risen from their seats.

 

-o-o-o-

 

It’s freezing in Seoul. The moment he steps out of Incheon Airport the cold wind bites into the skin of his hand and face. It didn’t sting the way the harsh sunlight of Bangkok sometimes would, but it does feel like he’s shriveling up. He thought he was well-prepared for Seoul in November – he’d gone on a big shopping trip before he’d left – but the temperature is beyond what a South-East Asia raised boy like him could have anticipated.

He stands there for five minutes waiting for his ride, rubbing his hands into his pockets, before deciding to text Lisa a text announcing his arrival. She calls him within seconds.

 _“Oh no!”_ she says once he picks up _“I’m so sorry Bammie, when you said five pm I thought you meant Bangkok time! I have a schedule, I can’t be there for another two hours!”_

“It’s ok,” he replies immediately “I could go to you maybe? Take a taxi? Send me the address so I can just show it to the driver.”

 _“Are you sure? Well I guess it’s better than standing around in the airport. And I’m in Gangam so you’ll probably love it here!”_  

“I’m hailing a taxi right now.” Bambam says.

She laughs _“Alright I’ll send you the address, and make sure you’ve been to the money changer. I’ll ask one of our managers if they can pick you up at the lobby.”_

“Thanks Liz.”

_“See you soon Bam.”_

Bambam pockets his phone again with a smile on his face. As he stares out into the unfamiliar landscape, absurdly, he feels a bit like he’s come home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when I'll get to update next, about to get pretty busy, and I've only barely started chapter 3. (anyway, I love 7 for 7, and I'm screaming that their comeback concept was a bit like the plot of this fic since I've been working on this since July lmao). THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE WHO COMMENTED (AND LEFT KUDOS)!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, I've been on break for about a week but I had such trouble with this chapter that I'm only posting this now. It's shorter than the others, but it moves the plot along quite a lot. I'm not sure there's still interest in this fic, but thank you all the same for the support you gave in the first two chapters. 
> 
> I only reread this once, so sorry in advance for any errors.

It happens almost in slow motion. Youngjae has just set his tray down onto his table when he sees a strikingly handsome man—tall, sharply dressed—walking towards him. He’s followed immediately by a less made up but no less handsome man who also looks determined to approach him. Behind them, a distressed looking young man, also bizarrely good looking (why are they all in this café?) stumbles forward to catch up.

It takes him a moment to shake off the awe, another to close his gaping mouth, and an even longer one to final recognize just who is standing right in front of him.

“Is your name Youngjae?” the sharply dressed man asks him.

“I—” how on earth would JJ Project know his name “Yes, that’s… that’s my name.”

The three men give each other looks, as if silently communing about what to say next. It’s the sharply dressed member of JJ Project (Jinyoung, Youngjae now remembers) who finally speaks after a tense minute.

“This will sound… strange,” he starts, with a hesitance his initial approach didn’t have “but have you been having dreams about us?”

Youngjae’s not quite sure how to answer that at first, blindsided by this meeting as he is. He finds himself stammering out unintelligible sounds before finally blurting out a yes.

“Well,” Jinyoung takes a deep breath “this will sound even stranger, but we’ve been having dreams with you in it too.”

“Youngjae-ah,” the other member of JJ Project speaks up for the first time, and suddenly Youngjae is hit with a strange feeling. It’s as if he’s heard his name before in that voice, though he’s never met these people ever in his life.

“Jaebum-hyung?” he knows he doesn’t know this man’s name, ‘that other member of JJ Project’ is all he’s ever called him in his head, and yet it comes out of his mouth without having to think about it. Somehow, he **_knows_** that this is this man’s name.

“Wait,” the third man, younger than Jinyoung and Jaebum, speaks up “you two are celebrities, he won’t know my name through the media, we need to check if this is for real.”

Youngjae feels strangely offended “I didn’t know Jaebum-hyung’s name until he said mine!”

“Humor me,” the younger man replies “what’s my name Youngjae-hyung?”

Youngjae bites his lip, and stares at his face intently, it’s not instantaneous like with Jaebum, but when it comes to him it’s like a rush of information. “Kim Yugyeom,” he says “that’s your name, you’re Im Jaebum,” he looks at Jaebum “you’re Park Jinyoung,” then to Jinyoung “I’m Choi Youngjae, and the rest of our members are…”

“You remember everyone else’s names?” Jinyoung asks with wide eyes.

“In my dreams, we’re all called one by one from a mass of trainees. They’re choosing who will become a member of the new idol group and they used full names.”

“That’s very different from my dream…” Jaebum mutters.

“I think we’ve established that the scenarios in all our dreams tend to be different.” Jinyoung says “What were the other’s names Youngjae? Was one of them Jackson?”

Youngjae’s eyes flash with recognition, yes, he knows that name “Wang Jackson! Yes! He was there!”

“That doesn’t sound Korean.” Yugyeom comments.

“But we have a full name we can use to search the internet,” Jaebum says, looking determined “the others?”

Youngjae bites his lip “I think the other one was Tuan Mark? And the other one I can’t remember his full name, they just called him Bambam.”

“Ah!”

“What is it Yugyeom-ah?”

“I suddenly remembered Bambam’s from Thailand, and that I couldn’t pronounce his real name.”

“I think I’m remembering that too,” Jinyoung says pensively, hand on his chin “so many memories are flooding back now just because of their names, I’m having a bit of difficulty processing.”

“I googled Jackson,” everyone turns to Jaebum, who’d pulled out his phone when no one was looking “I had a feeling he’d be really easy to find for some reason and I was right,” he shows his phone to Jinyoung. Yugyeom and Youngjae crowd around him.

“He’s an Olympian?” Jinyoung’s voice sounds disbelieving.

Youngjae’s does too “Wah, he went when he was in high school.”

“Is that ranking high for a high schooler you think?” Yugyeom wonders aloud.

“That’s not important,” Jaebum waves his hand turn back, “look at the rest of the hits, Jinyoung, you’re better at English than me, you can read it for us.”

“Well I’ll try,” Jinyoung says dryly while pressing the back button.

Youngjae peers over his shoulder, he’s been taking English in college, he tries to piece things together as best he can. “Hong Kong?” he says aloud “Hong Kong National Team.”

The others turn to look at him and suddenly Youngjae feels embarrassed “Sorry,” he says “I know my accent’s bad.”

“No,” Jinyoung says “you read it much faster than I did,” he holds out the phone “could you?”

“Oh,” Youngjae takes it “alright.”

Things are happening so fast, but this feels important. Maybe he’s just getting swept up in Jaebum’s urgency and Yugyeom and Jinyoung’s curiosity, but Youngjae thinks he needs to know this too.

“So uhm, he’s on the Hong Kong National Team’s page, for uhm, fencing,” he scrolls down “Oh! He’s on the Stanford University Fencing Team’s page.”

“That’s an American University, right?” Jaebum asks uncertainly “Right?”

“Yes,” Youngjae answers “it says here that it’s in California. He must be there right now. In my dreams he was only a little bit older than me.”

“I feel like there’s something else,” Jinyoung’s massaging his head “something about California.”

Yugyeom snaps his fingers “Mark-hyung’s American.”

“Search for: Mark Tuan, California,” says Jaebum.

Youngjae types it in carefully in English, Mark’s twitter account is the first hit. Youngjae presses it without thinking, and when the page loads he’s immediately met with a photo of two people he knows well, if only in a vague dreamland sense.

“This is Mark-hyung and Jackson-hyung,” he says, breathless.

Jinyoung pulls some bills out of his wallet and shoves it at Jaebum.

Youngjae furrows his eyebrows in confusion. Yugyeom’s turning his head back and forth between them.

Jaebum smirks “Finally admitting I won, huh Jinyoungie?”

 

-o-o-o-o-

 

Mark’s learned quite a few things about Jackson this week. He’s in Stanford via a sports scholarship, he’s been to the Olympics, he speaks three languages, he has a little niece that he dotes on, he loves his parents more than life itself, and he gets upset when Mark doesn’t answer his texts within the hour.

 _“Dude,”_ Mark types _“I was taking a nap, chill out.”_

Not even five seconds after he hits send, Jackson answers _“Sorry,”_ and then _“I can get too excited, but it’s night time why were you napping?”_ and then, again, after several seconds of typing _“Can I call you?”_

That’s another thing about Jackson, he likes calls better than text.

 _“Sure.”_ Mark says, because he kind of wants to hear Jackson’s voice again too. It’s silly, but it’s a strong reminder that Jackson’s… that he’s real.

“Hey,” Jackson sounds out of breath when he picks up “I was, well, actually just wondering if we could hang out soon.”

Mark smiles “You could have texted you know.”

“Right, yeah I know. It’s just. I don’t know, it’s ridic but I kind of still can’t believe we’ve met. It’s been a week so I’m being unreasonable I guess. But it’s just, surreal you know? And I’ve been kind of remembering more?”

“Bad things still?” Mark still hasn’t brought up his crazy idea of going to Seoul. Jackson hasn’t really remembered anything positive aside from him apparently. It’s weird because Mark’s dreams and memories of this other life are all happy. All of them make him feel nostalgic. Jackson’s been struggling with it a bit more.

“Not bad really,” Jackson said “It looked like we were carrying coal in these boxes or something. You were there, so were the others, it was really windy, and cold. Bambam thought we were going to have a barbeque.”

Mark pauses “Bambam?” an image flashes in his head, of him and a smaller boy sleeping on a floor.

“Yeah he—” Jackson pauses “oh my god, Bambam. My little brother Bambam.”

“Did you blurt that out without thinking?” Mark huffs, amused.

“Yeah I don’t know it just – it just came out. That was weird. It’s like I’ve always known that name but I don’t!”

“Reminds me of the baby from the Flinstones.” Mark chuckles “But yeah I think I’m remembering a Bambam too, think you can find his last name somewhere in your head?”

“I don’t think it works like that Markie-pooh, I get these things like visions or like, it just slips out or something.”

Mark snorts “Markie-pooh?”

“Yeah like Winnie…. the pooh…” Jackson’s voice trails out.

And then, almost simultaneously they both shout “The Markson show!”

“Dude yeah, I remember,” he hears a rustling of cloth from Jackson’s end, he’s probably in bed too “we were really celebrities huh? Or are? What **_are_** these memories anyway?”

Mark shrugs, then remembers Jackson can’t see him “I’m just thinking of them as a parallel universe,” he says “hey, was that your first good memory finally?”

“What, the Markson Show?” Jackson laughs “I mean I guess so, now that we’ve said it out loud I’m remembering laughing a lot.”

“Yeah, you talked a lot.”

“And you were really quiet!”

They’re both silent after that, but it’s not uncomfortable. Somehow, Mark knows Jackson is remembering like he is. A flood of moving pictures flashing like a crudely put together montage in his head.

He can feel his phone vibrating against his ear. He pulls it away just enough to see the screen, to see a flash of a twitter alert. He puts his phone on speaker.

“Uh Jackson?”

“Yeah I know it’s intense.”

“Well yeah but, it’s not that.”

Confused, Jackson asks “What?”

“I think,” he says slowly “I just got messaged by someone whose name is in Korean.” He presses the alert, and when twitter starts up, he sees the message and the other guy’s user pic, a selfie – it’s one of the guys from his dreams.

 

-o-o-o-o-

 

They all grabbed their drinks to sit with Youngjae, but since he really needed to get some school work done, Yugyeom was the one who messaged Mark on twitter, with Jinyoung’s help.

“You’ll have to delete this once you debut you know,” Jinyoung comments just as they’ve hit send “your account I mean. You’ll have to make a new so people can’t dig anything up on you.”

“I’m not even sure if I’ll debut,” Yugyeom sighs.

“You were the best dancer in that room, tell him Jaebum-hyung.”

“He’s right,” Jaebum nods “JYP won’t waste talent. Heard there’s a new boy group brewing, I’m sure you’ll be in based on what I saw.”

Yugyeom feels his chest fill with warmth “That feels really great coming from you two,” he says “thank you, seriously.”

“We’re only stating facts,” says Jinyoung.

Yugyeom opens his mouth to reply, but his phone vibrates on the table, startling everyone including the hyper-focused Youngjae. He pulls down his alerts “He replied!”

“Give it to me.” Jinyoung says with urgency, Yugyeom immediately complies.

They’re all silent for a moment, each of them carefully observing Jinyoung as he reads the message.

“He says that he recognized Yugyeom from his dreams, there’s a long word here I can’t understand but I’m pretty sure that’s what he’s saying. He says he met Jackson last week.”

“Around the time I called you about my dream?” Jaebum asks.

“Probably,” Jinyoung nods “can’t be a coincidence.”

“I think it was last week when I saw Jinyoung-hyung at the JYP lobby and tried to talk to him.” Yugyeom adds.

“I guess I had the dream last week,” Youngjae says “I may have had it earlier and just didn’t remember though.”

“Ask him if he knows Bambam,”

Jinyoung nods and carefully types the words _“Do you know Bambam?”_

It doesn’t take long for Mark to reply yes in big capital letters.

 

-o-o-o-o-

 

Mark quickly adds that he only knows Bambam in dreams. It takes several moments for the reply to come, during which Jackson asks “What are they saying now?” through his speaker phone.

“They’re asking about Bambam.” Mark says, breathless.

“This is insane,” Jackson sounds slightly panicked “they’re real? They’re real. Oh god they’re real. It’s too much of a coincidence that they’re asking about me, Bambam and dreams.”

“Deep breaths Jackson,” Mark says, and then the reply comes “now they’re asking if we know Bambam’s last name. I’m telling them we don’t.”

“What do we do now that we know that they’re real?” Jackson seems fixated on that fact and doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to Mark’s play by play of the conversation. But it was a valid question, so they’re real, what now?

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite sure when the next update will be, because I am frankly struggling at writing this. Hopefully it's sometime before January. I don't want to drag the story along but I don't want it to be too fast paced either. Hopefully the next chapter will be longer. It will definitely have more Bambam at the very least.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao you guys, I'm so sorry, I got wrapped up in another on-going fic for another non-kpop fandom and it's just been really hard for me to write this, I had to default to writing mostly about the hyung-line again since I'm most comfortable with their POVs for some reason. I'll do my best to use the maknae line more in the next chapter.

Jackson isn’t light on his feet, the rythmic sound of his steps are heavy and loud, and echo in the stiffly silent gymnasium. But he’s fast. There’s strength in his every step forward and in every thrust of his arm. Every movement is filled with intent and intensity. He’s aggressive, he’s impatient, he’s winning the practice match anyway. Mark’s grinning to himself as he tries to keep his hand steady to capture this moment as best he can. 

He’s planning to send it to their new… friends. 

They’ve kept in contact with the Koreans for a week now, all of them taking tentative steps to get to know each other. Mark brought up the idea of making a group chat and got Jackson to agree to downloading kakaotalk so they can all talk to each other in the same place. The language barrier has been troublesome, but they’re managing with online translators and the language of emojis. Jackson was a bit apprehensive at first but the more good things he “remembers” the more talkative he gets in the group chat.

They haven’t talked about why the dreams even happened yet, but it’s always an underlying note in their conversations, and they tend to share what they “remember” when it comes to them. Increasingly, they’re remembering different sides of the same events. Somehow, it’s comfortable. Mark knows he should be freaking out more, but the “memories” he’s been getting are too pleasant for that.

Still, he has no idea what any of it means, or what they should all do about it.

Jackson lets out a cry of joy as the match ends and goes in for a hug with his opponent before he even takes off his head gear. When he does take it off he’s dripping in sweat, though that doesn’t stop one of his teammates from giving him an affectionate noogie. 

Mark stops recording. When he looks up, Jackson meets his eyes and grins, waving his hand high up in the air for him. Mark grins and offers a more low key wave in return.

He watches as a few more of Jackson’s teammates have practice matches, before their coach ends today’s session. Everyone starts walking to the locker room to shower, but Jackson approaches him first. 

“You’re really sending them a video huh,” Jackson jogs up to him, eyeing his phone “can I see how it turned out?”

Mark pulls up the video in reply and hands his phone to Jackson who watches it intently all the way through the end with a poker face. 

Jackson smiles when he hands him back his phone “You know, I remembered something again lately.”

Mark raises his eyebrows “Yeah?”

“A couple of things, fencing with everyone in the group. There was a camera crew. But it felt like we were having fun, you and I were on different teams, and a Korean fencer I’ve always been close to was there,” he looks like he’s fondly remembering the moment, Mark doesn’t think he’s ever seen the expression on his face, at least not outside those weird memories. 

“And,” Jackson continues “I’m remembered teaching Bambam the proper form, for fencing. We were a little young in the memory, well, younger than we are now at least.”

The memories are ringing some bells, but Mark’s only seeing vague pictures of it. He wonders why this memory is more vivid for Jackson than it is for him. He wonders why everyone had dreamt of different things in the first place, even if the characters in the dreams were all the same.

“If you’re not comfortable with it, I won’t upload the video.”

“Nah,” Jackson grins “I’d like them to see it,” he wipes off the sweat dripping down his chin “I should go shower,”

Mark laughs, “Yeah, you should.”

Jackson starts sniffing himself “I don’t stink that much do I?”

“Well,” Mark giggles harder, shrugs.

Jackson slaps his arm lightly with one of his gloves. “You suck,” he says, but he’s laughing, “just give me twenty minutes, then we can go eat.”

“Sure,” Mark pats the bleachers he’s sitting on “I’ll just be here.”

He watches Jackson disappear into the locker room and slumps back into his seat. He turns his attention back to his phone and opens their group chat. The latest messages are a few pictures of JB’s cat. Mark sends “they’re really cute” before starting to upload the video of Jackson’s practice match. 

It takes more than twenty minutes for Jackson to finish showering, which Mark frankly expected since he went into the locker rooms last and there are only so many shower stalls. In the time it takes for Jackson to come out with his backpack on, hair still wet but smelling like orange shampoo, Mark manages to upload the video.

“It’s up on the group chat,” he says, as they walk out of the gym side by side “if they’re not all that busy they should see it soon.”

“Cool,” Jackson puts his hands in his pockets “what do you think of them so far?”

“They seem nice,” Mark shrugs, watching his friend pensively. 

“I googled them last night,” Jackson sounds a bit sheepish at the admission “found nothing on Youngjae and Yugyeom beyond the social media accounts they sent us, but there’s a ton of stuff with Jinyoung in it, movies, dramas, music videos and interviews with JB.” 

Mark saw those too, but he doesn’t want to interrupt Jackson’s spiel so he keeps quiet, observes his face as he speaks.

“I’ve been trying to remember stuff through that you know? Maybe it’ll ring some bells, and I notice that just seeing them won’t do it, I mean in the beginning it did but now there has to be,” he throws his hands in the air “I don’t know, some trigger or something, like something they say will remind me of something they said in that other universe, sometimes it’s little stuff like JB grabbing the back of Jinyoung’s neck in one of those backstage diaries, it’s like I’m slowing getting the context of the dreams and seeing that maybe it wasn’t so bad! But then I think that, when it was bad, it was  **_really_ ** bad. But lately, aside from you, I’m remembering a lot of these heart to hearts with the others too, Jinyoung mostly,” he stops, takes a deep breath “Is it this crazy for you too?”

Mark hums in though “Well, it’s… crazy is definitely a pretty good word for it. Sometimes I’ve thought about going to see them, but that’s even crazier.”

Abruptly, Jackson stops walking. “Is it though?”

Turning to him Mark arches an eyebrow, silently asking for clarification.

“I mean, I don’t think this is going to go away. There must be some reason you happened to go to the same party as I did, there must be some reason those guys ended up in the same coffee shop. I think going to see them isn’t any crazier than what’s already been happening.”

Mark can’t deny that “You’re not scared?”

“Terrified,” Jackson admits “but it feels like the right decision.”

Admittedly, Mark’s felt drawn to the idea himself. It does feel right somehow, he feels, just as Jackson seems to, that if they go there they’ll find out what’s been happening. 

“When do you want to do this?” he asks, and Jackson sags in relief.

“I would have gone without you, but I’m so glad you’re on board,” he grins “I was thinking we talk it out with our parents first though say we’re going vacationing with a friend, there’s a fencer in Seoul I’ve been wanting to visit too, I could say that’s another reason.”

“You’ve done a lot of thinking,”

“Well,” Jackson shrugs, then murmurs “I wanna know,”

Mark gets it suddenly, that beyond exploring this supernatural connection that all seem to have, Jackson wants his peace of mind back. He’s the only one who’s been getting painful flashbacks, so Mark can understand that. It’s almost weird how that is, if these visions really are memories of another life then Mark’s pretty sure it can’t have been all good for him. And yet, all he’s recovered are rose tinted memories of a life he feels he knows.

He bumps shoulders with Jackson, and gives him a toothy grin when he looks up. “I wanna know too,” he says, and Jackson beams back.

  
  
  


-o-o-o-o-

  
  
  
  


Jaebum sees the video during his lunch break. He looks around the cafe he’s been devouring his sandwiches in and puts his phone on silent before clicking play. He doesn’t know much about fencing but even to his untrained eyes, he can tell that Jackson’s good.

Two memories flash in quick succession, one of Jackson showing him a video of him fencing. Another of him watching Jackson from behind, fencing in person. The second one is more vivid, he can actually remember the feeling of his own excitement as Jackson surged forward, and his elation whenever he scored a point. He remembers hugging him, smushing his face against Jackson’s face guard. 

Since they met Yugyeom and Youngjae and then messaged Mark and Jackson, Jaebum’s days have been filled with moments like these. He knows it’s true for Jinyoung too. He catches him in the studio sometimes with his eyes glazed over, a fond smile on his face. 

“Amazing,” he sends to the group chat, and then: “I remember some things”

He ponders for a moment how to be more specific. He’s not terrible at English, it’s just always been easier for him to comprehend it, stringing words together is always a bigger challenge.

He decides to ask them if they remember fencing together. With luck it will bring up the memories to them too, then it’ll be easier to talk about.

“Just what are you looking at Jaebum-hyung,” 

Jaebum looks up to find Jinyoung walking towards him, a cup of coffee in hand. He’s not shooting his drama today, so he’s dressed more casually. He’s got the minimum amount of makeup they wear in pubic, but he’s just sporting a green hoodie and jeans. 

“Mark uploaded a video of Jackson fencing,”

“So that’s why my phone kept making a ruckus,” Jinyoung sits down beside him, pulls his phone out “Did you remember anything after watching it?”

“A couple of things, yes.”

Jinyoung pulls out his earphones from his pocket and plugs it into his phone. Silently, he watches the entire video, smile on his face growing wider and wider as it goes on. 

He’s still smiling when he looks back up at Jaebum and says “I think I remember us fencing, you were the only one on Jackson’s team because you were the worst at it.”

Jaebum frowns “I don’t think I remember that part.”

Jinyoung laughs “Of course you wouldn’t.”

Jaebum sighs and turns his attention back to his phone, on the group chat screen, it shows that Mark’s seen his message and is typing something.

“We remember that too,” Mark says, and Jaebum’s relieved.

“This is a bit strange isn’t it hyung,” says Jinyoung “My brain is telling me we should be wary, but at the same time, I feel sure that I know them all well enough to trust them.”

“I wonder if we’d have the time to meet them, like maybe after something like K-Con,”

“Hmmm,” Jinyoung looks back down at his phone, then his eyes widen “I don’t think that will be necessary.”

Confused, Jaebum looks at the message that had just appeared in the chat too.

It’s from Jackson, and it says: “We’re thinking of going there.”

 

 

-o-o-o-o-

  
  
  


Lisa’s life is overwhelming. Bambam’s not sure how she manages it, having so little time for herself. Frankly he’s jealous, he’d like to have a life like this, he’d like to be able to feel what it’s like to have people cheering for you like that. He’d like to know what it’s like to have fans that dedicated to you. It’s a busy life, but that’s part of the attraction.

Of course, he’s not sure that he’s all that on board with Lisa’s suggestion that he sign with her company. Though he’d definitely love to meet the members of Big Bang, something just doesn’t sit right with him about the idea. 

“What about it doesn’t sit right with you?” Lisa demanded when he told her as much over lunch.

“I don’t know,” Bambam shrugs “I just want to see if I have other options maybe, or something. I’m not sure, I just feel uneasy.”

Lisa narrows her eyes at him, then sighs. “Well I can’t do anything about that, I don’t want you to push yourself,” she falls silent for a moment, tapping her lower lip in thought “How do you feel about checking out the other agencies then? You can decide who to audition for later, I’ll even help you look up the deets.”

Bambam looks up and beams “Really?”

“Yes really,” she smiles back “Who did you want to start with?”

He’s not sure why but the name of a company he’s never heard of immediately pops into mind. It’s unsettling, he doesn’t like it.

He must visibly clam up because Lisa asks: “What’s wrong Bam?”

“Oh uh,” he clears his throat “It’s nothing, just having trouble choosing, uhm,” he rubs a finger under his nose “Why don’t you chose?”

“Alright,” she considers it for a moment “well since we’re already here in Gangnam, there’s a big company you should check out.”

Though his sense of unease grows at the suggestion, he does his best not to let Lisa see it.

“Alright,” he says, hoping he won’t regret it.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk when i'll update next so i'm sorry!! i'm always working on this fic (that first scene with mark and jackson has been sitting around for moooonths) but it's just been.... touch and go with inspiration. I'll do my best though, so thanks to everyone who's commented and given kudos, or even if you just read this, thank you haha.


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